1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to time pieces for keeping time in at least two separate time zones to enable the user thereof to see at a glance whether the time indicated by each time piece is in the morning before 12 noon or is in the afternoon after 12 noon.
2. Description of Related Art
Dual time pieces are well known in the art. They generally have, in one clock unit, two clock faces so that the dial on one face can be set to local time and the second dial on the second face can be set to a time in a different time zone. They can be mechanical watches or LCD watches.
The problem occurs when looking at the local time and then when looking at the time in the other time zone, telling whether it is in the morning or the afternoon. For instance, a traveler in Japan may set the local time to 12:00 noon while, at that same time in a location such as Dallas, Texas, the time may be 10:00 p.m. When looking at the two dials, one may wonder if the time in Dallas means 10:00 a.m. the next day or 10:00 p.m. the same day.
It would advantageous to have such a dual time watch that indicated on each dial face whether the time was in the afternoon or in the morning.
The present invention solves the problem of the prior art by having indicia related with each dial face that indicates whether the time indicated is A.M. or P.M. This can be accomplished with either a mechanical watch or a watch having an LCD face by placing indicia on the face that indicates whether the time indicated is in the a.m. or the p.m. The indicia could be a window in which the letters a.m. or p.m. appear. In an LCD display, the color of the LCD face representing p.m. time could change to a darker color. It is well known that certain LCD materials will change color from one to another upon application of a different voltage to the LCD material. In this manner, the user of the watch, when looking at the two faces, will know immediately whether each of the first and second time zones is in the a.m. or the p.m. Thus, if the user is in Japan and has set local Japanese time to 10:00 a.m. on one dial, it will have indicia representing a.m. hours (such as a window with a.m. in it or the color of the LCD being one color). If the other dial is set to 3:00 a.m. in some other time zone, that dial will have indicia on it also representing a.m. hours. Thus the user will know that when it is 10:00 a.m. where he/she is located, it is 3:00 a.m. at the other time zone. In like manner, if it is 10:00 a.m. local time in Tokyo and 3:00 p.m. in a second time zone, the user will be able to tell that the time in the second time zone is in the p.m. because of the indicia that shows, such a window with the proper time letters therein or because of the different color of one LCD face from the other.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dual time piece that enables the user to tell when each time is in the a.m. or the p.m.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide indicia on the face of each time piece that provides a visual indication of a.m. or p.m. time.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dual time piece having a window in the face thereof in which a designation of morning or afternoon hours appear.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a dual time piece having LCD faces in which a face showing a.m. time is of one color and the face showing p.m. time is of another color.
Thus, the invention relates to an improved dual time piece having at least first and second time indicating units thereon for indicating time in at least first and second time zones, the improvement comprising indicia associated with each time indicating unit for providing a visual indication of whether that time indicating unit is indicating a.m. time or p.m. time.
The invention also relates to a method of telling time in two separate time zones comprising the steps of providing first and second time indicating faces; and locating indicia on each time face that shows whether the time indicated thereon is a.m. time or p.m. time.